My Journey With Health And Fitness – Setting Achievable Goals

Sorry there was no post Thursday but I have been going a bit crazy. It starts with helping look after my sister which at times can be a bit trying. You add to that my volunteer work which at this time of year is at a crazy level. Then there is my tax clients who have all be crammed into the month of March because I am leaving for Mexico soon. Oh, and then one of my business clients sent me their books for January and February the other day so that needed to be done. I’ve got 2 dogs on the list that need rehoming as well as new volunteers to do an intake with. Yes, a little stressful but I admit I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

During April my fitness centre is once again doing a challenge. I like these because they keep me focused on the end game and I usually manage to accomplish what is needed. For this round I need to set a goal to achieve by the end of the month. However, the goal can’t be arbitrary like to lose weight. So, if I lost 1 lb during the month my goal will have been achieved? Nope that doesn’t work. Instead I need to set a goal that is not only challenging but that also is achievable and more importantly measurable.

I’ve been thinking about what I want to do and have come up with a few ideas. Firstly I am going to Mexico and the past couple of trips there has been way too much alcohol involved so I thought hey, a goal of being alcohol free 5 days each week after April 7th (I will note there is a reason for that date that I will get into in a later post). But then I thought what about a hardline on only eating out once a week while there. That one is just as challenging because of our social life down there so I would have to amend it to 2 days a week but with focus on a healthier diet. Third would be getting to the gym 3 times per week to do some work with weights but that one is dependent on whether the gym is decent.

Then it hit me, planks! We used to have a Saturday instructor who was brutal when it came to doing planks. She loved to have us not just do long plank holds but if you got tired she would get you to do them with only 1 arm (if you don’t know what a plank hold is, Google it and know that is is not an easy exercise in any way). The problem is I hadn’t done one of her classes since December and I am now struggling at holding a plank for 45 seconds. So, my goal is to build myself back up to doing 3 minute plank holds. This fits perfectly with what we have been tasked with doing. This goal is challenging, achievable and measurable. I’ll start with 60 seconds each day and then add 10 seconds every other day until I am up to 180 seconds or 3 minutes. Once achieved the goal continues so that for 10 weeks I will be doing a plank hold every single day.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not dropping the other goals, it is just the plank hold is the one that I am going to submit. I also decided I am going to keep a calendar to track alcohol free days, eating out and weight training. I really want to do this so that I can see exactly how well I am doing. I then may even post the calendar to show exactly how I am doing.

Oh, and as a bonus goal I plan to come back a little lighter than when I left.